When renovating an existing space within my house, I came across some reclaimed spruce which was recommended by a friend who is a builder. As a general rule I would favour local timber over the imported ones for the simple reason of cost and sustainability, primarily due to the significant carbon emissions incurred when transporting materials from overseas. However, I decided to experiment with it when I was told that the spruce was actually reclaimed from internationally packaged cartons which were already in Malaysia, and that they would have otherwise been disposed of.

However, the issue of strength and aesthetics of the wood had to be looked at carefully. After some consideration I decided that the spruce was to be lightly charred for durability, and that some of them were to be resized into battens to filter sunlight. I was quite lucky to have Munir - an engineer turned passionate craftsman - skilfully bring out the amazing grain of the wood in the movable partitions. The efforts resulted in quite an intriguing space.